A Nashville business built by accident is keeping homes safe across America

Alan Young turned his new business opportunity into a new job opportunity for a disadvantaged population.

Alan Young turned a problem into an opportunity, building a product for himself that soon hundreds of thousands would be using: Door Armor. The product was Young’s solution to stop criminals from kicking-in the doors of properties he was renovating.

“They’d steal our tools, pipes, and everything else,” said Alan Young, Founder & CEO, Armor Concepts. “We came up with the idea, ‘Let’s wrap this doorframe in metal.’”

While he never intended to sell the steel door plates that reinforce doors, people started asking for them. After enough interest, he formed Armor Concepts.

That was 2004. Since then, Young has grown his business exponentially.

Armor Concepts products are currently featured in many big box renovation retailers, but it’s Amazon, his largest sales channel, that Young credits with helping him grow. Young took advantage of tools like Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and Amazon Advertising to help him run his business more efficiently and reach a new level of success.

“[Amazon] gives smaller businesses like mine, access to a lot of things that will help you sell your products in a better and faster way,” he said. “I think once you crack the code in terms of the different advertising and marketing tools that are available, you can really scale.”

Young is now using his company’s size to make a difference, partnering with Nashville foundations like Ephesus House and Project Return to hire formerly incarcerated individulas to work in their warehouse. While it might seem unconventional for a security company, he said it’s the old adage ‘to whom much is given, much is required.’

“If we can continue to grow, and continue making a positive impact. Then that’s what I would like to do,” said Young.

“If you change one life, you can change a lot.”